Squid Game season 3 is set to be released this year on Netflix, so we won't have to wait too long to know how the story ends, and what are the consequences of season 2's shocking finale. Has the release date for season 3 been confirmed? Who is coming back to the cast? What are the biggest unanswered questions left by the latest episodes? Will Gi-hun beat the Front Man at his own game, or is there no hope for him?
All will be revealed in Squid Game season 3, which has been already confirmed, and has also already been filmed. Here we gather everything we know about the last season of one of Netflix's best shows. Following the massive streaming success of the season 2, which landed the streamer's biggest ever premiere week, the next batch of episodes promises violence, exciting revelations, and much-needed retribution.
Below we get into all the major details from Squid Game season 3 release date, cast, plot theories, and the latest updates about images and trailer release. Despite what Gi-hun thought, the game is just beginning, and there is still much to be revealed.
Before scrolling on though, make sure you've seen all of Squid Game season 2 as we're getting into major spoilers below. You have been warned.
Squid Game season 3 release date speculation
Squid Game season 3 will be out in 2025, as confirmed by Netflix. The exact date has yet to be officially announced, but a brief video released by Netflix Korea (which has now been removed) pointed at June 27, 2025.
What we know for sure is that filming has already finished on the third season and show creator Hwang Dong-hyuk confirmed in late 2024 they were working on post-production.
If we choose not to believe the leaks and we had to hazard a guess, we'd bet the third and final season of Squid Game will come out at a similar time to Squid Game season 2. This means we expect Squid Game season 3 in late 2025, likely around Christmas time again.
Squid Game season 3 plot speculation *SPOILERS*
No official plot details have been released for Squid Game season 3 yet, but we have a pretty good idea of what to expect from how season 2 ends. The dramatic season 2 finale begins in the aftermath of the tied vote between the players about whether they'll leave the competition and split the winnings. As the lights go out, chaos begins as the Os attack the Xs, brutally killing several of them while the guards wait outside the door for the carnage to ensue.
However, Seong Gi-Hun has a plan: it's time to take down the game once and for all. Teaming up with Hwang In-ho (who is undercover in the arena), Jung-bae, and several other players, they decide to attack the guards when they enter. They overwhelm them, taking their guns and ammunition as they begin to make their way through the building towards the control room.
At first, they make good progress, with Gi-hun and Jung-bae almost making it to the control room but it's a gun fight the whole way. In-ho and two other soldiers follow their route to offer back up, with Gi-hun even giving In-ho his last ammunition to help them win. It's a fatal error as he kills his fellow soldiers, before calling Gi-hun on the intercom and pretending to die. He then speaks to the guards and tells them to shut down the rebellion.
Dwindling ammunition sends Myung-gi and Hyun-Ju back to the player quarters, where they're cut off by the entering guards who claim the rebellion over. Meanwhile, In-ho, now back in his Front Man get-up, meets Gi-hun and Jung-bae outside of the control room. In a final act of brutality, he shoots Jung-bae dead and tells Gi-hun that this is where his heroism gets him.
Meanwhile, this whole time, Hwang Jun-ho and the boats have been closing in on the island, but they have a traitor in their ranks. The boat captain is working with the game creators and has been sabotaging them along the way. There is one final tease too in the Squid Game season 2 post-credits, which features players 096, 100, and 353 walking towards Young-Hee's statue. She's facing another new statue too as the light switches to green, which might be an indication of one of the games to come in season 3.
Squid Game season 3 is likely going to pick up back in the arena where this leaves off, and continue the games. We might see Jun-ho make it to the island and reunite with his brother, and we're expecting the revelation of who In-ho really is to hit Gi-hun hard when it comes.
In an interview with Variety, Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk talked about what's next for Gi-hun, saying: "As for the storyline of the third season, Gi-hun having lost everything, including his best friend, and all of his attempts going to failure, it’s now, what is he going to be like? What state is Gi-hun going to be in? And what will he choose to do? Will he continue on with the mission? Is he going to give up or persist? And so you’re going to meet our character Gi-hun at a very critical crossroads as we begin the third season. Gi-hun will not be the man he was in season 2."
One thing feels certain though – the shocking deaths are not over.
Speaking about the show's ending, creator Dong-hyuk shared that he changed his mind over the ending. "Usually when I get to writing a script, I do it where I think of the ending first, and then I try to make the journey, or the path to reach that ending the most entertaining way possible," he said to 12DOVE and other media at a roundtable. "But this time around, it was actually different. I started out writing the story thinking of a particular ending, but along the way, I realised that this is not where the story should be headed, so I changed the ending mid-process."
Squid Game season 3 cast speculation
As is expected with Squid Game, there were a lot of deaths in season 2. This means the cast list for season 3 is much smaller than the second outing. At the moment it looks like the following actors and characters will return:
- Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun
- Wi Ha-joon as Hwang Jun-ho
- Lee Byung-hun as Hwang In-ho, the Front Man
- Park Sung-hoon as Hyun-ju
- Kang Ha-neul as Dae-ho
- Jo Yu-ri as Kim Jun-hee
- Park Gyu-young as No-eul
- Chae Kook-hee as Seon-nyeo
- Lee David as Min-su
- Kang Ae-sim as Jang Geum-ja
- Yang Dong-geun as Park Yong-sik
- Im Si-wan as Lee Myung-gi
- Oh Dal-su as the Captain
- Roh Jae-won as Nam-gyu
Is Squid Game season 3 the final season?
Yes, Squid Game season 3 will be the final season of the Netflix show. Speaking about this decision, creator Dong-hyuk told 12DOVE and other media why this is. "When you look at Squid Game at the end of the day, it's really all about Gi-Hun's journey. The way he returned and gave up wanting to go see his daughter, returned from the flight and goes back into the game, wanting to put an end to it.
"So, the storylines for seasons 2 and 3 are going to be about his journey and the viewers wanting to know, 'Will he succeed, will he fail?' And at the end of his journey, what would Gi-hun look like? So, at the end of the day, it's really a story told by Gi-hun, and it's a story of Gi-hun and also what changes he goes through as a character through these series of events. So I always thought that it had to be, it had to come to a closure with Gi-hun's story by season 3. I thought that it would be meaningless to tell a story further than that."
Squid Game season 3 trailer speculation
No trailer for Squid Game season 3 has been released yet, and it's likely we won't see this until much closer to the show's release date. For season 2, the trailer was released as part of Netflix Geeked Week so this may be one to watch in 2025 as well.
Squid Game season 2 is available to stream on Netflix now. For more, check out our Squid Game season 2 review and our Squid Game season 2 ending explained. We've also got guides to the best Netflix movies and the best Netflix horror movies to stream right now.
